Focus: The Sniper Method

Welcome to sniper school.

Do you ever wonder why snipers can hit their target from so many yards away? Why are they so accurate? What is it that they do that makes them so good?

It is the very breath that they take and their control of it that helps them hold the gun steady, and allows them to hit their target.

So how does that relate to cameras and focus?

Most of us shake a bit. Some of us shake a lot. I will try here to show you how to shake less, and follow through in your photo shooting.

Look at how sharp the focus is. This image
was hand held, using the techniques in this tip.

Here is part 1.

Hold your hand out in front of you.

Take a deep breath. Hold it for about 5 seconds.

Now  let it out slowly. It should take about 10 seconds.

If you are like most people, your hand will almost stop shaking completely between 6 and 10 seconds.

When you prepare to release the shutter (take the picture), breathe exactly the way we just did it. Pick the camera up to your eye, deep breath, then let it out. Squeeze the button between 6 and 8.

Here is the hard part. DO NOT take the camera down from your eye until you are done exhaling. It is called "follow-through" and is just as important for the photographer as it is for the baseball player. Or the sniper.

Homework for tonight is to breathe deeply, and get used to the idea of breath control. Go take some photos. Inhale, exhale slowly, THEN take the camera down. It will take a while to get used to it, but your crystal clear images will be well worth it!

Next week, what all of those settings mean - or at least some of them...